Walking in my Shoes: Recalculating my footprints and My Final Redemption

Hello everyone! Around the beginning of January I was asked by my course to figure out my footprints.

I would use footprint calculators to figure out my ecological, carbon, water, and slavery footprints

Today I will go over my new results and compare them with my old ones to see if I was close to my goals

My results

Ecological

In my previous ecological footprint result I had an Earth overshoot Day of 26. Feb. But now I have an overshoot day of 08. June. Which is a 3 months difference when I compare my two results.

I can thank my new results to my course because it made me realize how much of a difference I can make on the environment.

I went down from 6,3 Earths to just 2.3 Earths if everyone lived like me.

I feel like my results became better because of the amount of effort I have put into making sure that we recycle and use less power at home.

Not only that but I made efforts in teaching my brothers about sustainability and how we can reduce our footprints

Carbon

On the contrary to my previous result, I have done worse on my carbon footprint. My better than average score went from 20% to only 12%.

Not only that but my carbon emissions went up higher from 48 tons CO2/year to 53.

I feel as though my results have gotten worse was because I was more transparent about the amount of money I spend on goods and services.

I also believe that I didn't put much effort into changing my carbon emissions. Since I don't really drive around much other than work I didn't think I was causing much damage.

I will not let my ignorance get in the way of reducing my carbon footprint any longer so I will continue to look out for my carbon footprint.

Water

Now my water footprint is where I put most of my effort into reducing. But my results show that my personal water consumer went from 1,863 gallons/day to only 1,598 gallons/day

My household water consumption went from 13,044 gallons/day to 11,185 gallons/day.

Although not a huge difference it shows me that I have made an effort into making sure my water consumption is lower. Making my personal consumption lower than the U.S average of 1,802

I did this by making sure that I used as little water whenever I was in the shower, using the sink, and washing my clothes. I also let my whole family informed on my efforts to reduce our consumption of water.

Since I have seen that most states are now having water droughts I started to appreciate the value of water and how grateful it is to have full access to it.

Slavery

n my Slavery footprint I only managed to lower my amount of slaves by 1.

I felt as though I was aware of how many slaves that I was using but I found it difficult with my daily life.

I know that these slaves don't have a choice to make these products, but I do and I should make more of an effort to reduce this footprint.

I have done good efforts into not buying new products and doing most of my shopping at thrift stores. But I have not put much effort into researching which of my products or companies that are known for using slave work or child laboring.

I am not happy with the amount of slaves that I am using and I put most of my efforts into making sure that I don't increase this footprint.

Reflection

I am proud of my results even though I felt as though I could do better. I am very grateful to have taken this course of sustainable marketing, as it has taught me many ways to reduce my footprints. Sustainability will be a huge part of my life now and I will make more efforts to do my part in helping the Earth.

I finish it off with a couple questions asked by my professor:

Were you able to achieve the footprint reduction goals you set for yourself?

One of my goals was to not eat meats on Mondays and I felt as though I have met this goal. As I don't usually work on Monday I had the time to prepare my meals and to figure out what I wanted to eat. Although most of the time I would just eat ramen noodles. So I did meet this goal and was able to drop my ecological and water footprints because of this.

Another one of my goals was to use more renewable resources to lower my slavery footprints. I didn't meet this goal like I wanted to because of my own lack of judgement on the products that I bought. I said I would only spend $50 dollars on good and I have not managed to achieve that.

My third goal was to walk to work at least once a week and I have achieved this goal, This goal also help reduce my ecological and carbon footprints because I helped reduce my miles. Most of the times I would walk home from work and I will continue this practice as it is a good form of exercise.

My final goal was to lower my water consumption by spending less time in the shower and flushing less. I did not achieve this goal either because I realized that I cannot spend 8 minutes to apply all my products in the shower. Until I find a more sustainable product that can achieve all of my daily routines. I will not be able to lower my shower times.

Will you be able to continue these practices? Why or why not?

Of course I will continue my practices of lowering my footprints because I personal believe that it is good for the next generation of people. We must keep the Earth clean so that we as humans can progress to a better future.

We as humans can have the responsibility of making sure that everything in the Earth is livable for every creature, not just humans. So we must learn how to take care of our home before it is too late. I will continue my practices because we need people to lead for example for a better future.

I did not lower my footprints as much as I wanted so or course I will continue these practices so that I am satisfied with my scores.